Authors: Anya Nowlan
Deft hands picked her up and her legs wrapped around his waist. He blindly carried her back towards the truck, not stumbling even a little. Battle was as sure in his footing as she was in her absolute need for him. For months, they had been flirting with each other, throwing hints and winks and all sorts of innuendo until it felt like their conversations were made to turn her on. She’d feared he’d be so much less in person than he was online, but she’d found herself pleasantly and completely surprised by the man. He was even better face-to-face, and his quiet, reserved wit and powerful presence made that much bigger of an impact.
Before they could reach the truck, Battle had already peeled off Keesha’s top with her eager help. By the time he sat her down on the tailgate, he’d undone the hook on her bra.
“What if someone sees us?” she asked, dazed and her lips burning from the intense kisses.
“There’s no one around for miles. You can scream as loud as you want, baby,” he growled, kissing down her neck in maddeningly small steps.
His big hands undid the front of her jeans. He slipped a hand down the front of her pants as he sucked one of her nipples into his mouth, catching it between his teeth. Keesha mewled, molding her body against the contour of his hand. Her long dark hair was tumbling over her shoulders and, within moments, she was bucking against his touch. Battle’s gruff fingertips glided smoothly over her wet pussy lips before dipping between them, teasing her clit until she was squealing in his hands.
She grabbed for his thick arms, her nails scraping at the skin as he made her gasp and writhe. With desperate motions, she let her hands slide down his muscled arms, locking around the wrist of the hand that was driving her wild.
“Oh my god, Battle… I’m going to cum right now if you don’t… Oh…” she hissed in a breath, dropping her forehead against his shoulder.
He stopped teasing her tits, almost reluctantly taking his mouth away from them.
“What do you want, Keesha?” he rasped, and it was the sexiest sound she’d ever heard.
“I want you… I want your cock in me,” she moaned, half-squealing from the way he was keeping her on edge.
Just like that, lightning fast, he changed course again. Keesha gasped throatily as he took his hand away and then yanked her off the tailgate, spinning her around. He pulled her jeans down, pressing them down around her knees so her thighs were together, nice and tight. She looked over her shoulder as he unbuckled his belt and then pushed down his jeans, revealing his hard, throbbing cock.
“
Fuck,
” she muttered, not even trying to hide how damn much she wanted it, how much she wanted him.
He smirked that wry smile of his and one hand grabbed her by the hip, digging into the soft flesh. Keesha lurched forward, the side of the tailgate nice and cool against her burning hot skin. Battle pressed the head of his cock to her opening, moving it up and down the length of her slit teasingly, coating it with her juices. She thought she was going to cry if he’d keep doing that for too long.
His other hand slid up the curve of her back, until it reached her neck. Gently, his fingers grasped her shoulder and squeezed, as if readying her. Without thinking about it, she slammed back into him, taking him halfway in her before he could make a move. Keesha howled, his impossibly large cock impaling her just like she’d wanted. He stretched her wide and she struggled to fit him, the pain and pleasure warping together into one pulsing ball of heat in her.
Without missing a beat, he started pumping into her, sinking deeper until his hips slapped against her ample ass with each thrust. Her moans turned into garbled half-screams, her head thrown back and her teeth forcing into her lower lip so hard she was sure she’d make herself bleed. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered aside from this fucking fantastic man and the clear blue Idaho sky above them, letting her release all that pent up frustration that had been gathering like dust inside of her.
“Fuck, you’re tight,” Battle growled, bringing a smile to her lips.
She squeezed down around him and it was her own undoing. The release she’d been dreading and anticipating at the same time impacted her as if she’d been hit by a truck. Suddenly, her lungs were empty and the screams that wanted to bubble up had nowhere to draw air from, turning into strangled gasps as her orgasm took her. Battle’s hand released her shoulder and cupped her breast, kneading it with his rough palm. She could feel the first and only trickle of a tear streak down her cheek.
Battle’s grunts turned into growls and became louder and louder as Keesha rode out her release. When she clamped down around him one final time, it was too much. With a deafening roar, he came, spilling his milky ropes of seed in her, filling her. She could feel the heat pool again – this time a warm glow instead of the intense flash that had taken over all her senses just moments ago.
Both of Battle’s hands rested against the tailgate now, his head propped up by her shoulder and Keesha’s arms trembling as she held them both up.
“You’re amazing,” Battle whispered into her ear, sliding his hands over her soft stomach and pulling her against him.
Now, he held both of them up and she relaxed against him, his still-rigid cock still in her. She rested her head against his chest, looking up at him with her head thrown back. He didn’t hesitate to use the moment to steal a kiss from her – just the lightest of pecks on her lips.
“Okay, so maybe there’s something to this working outside thing after all,” she murmured.
Keesha could get used to that. As long as her every little work-related victory was met with furious fucking with a sexy as hell mountain of a bear.
CHAPTER NINE
Battle
He was tense again and he was sure Keesha could feel it. She was sitting next to him in the truck as they bounced their way down the dirt roads towards Shifter Grove for the first time. He’d managed to hide her away at his place for several days, but his lack of planning had caught up with him. There wasn’t enough food and he only had one towel at the house, and Keesha was itching to see Shifter Grove.
He wasn’t completely sure why he was so rigidly opposed to going out in public with her. It certainly wasn’t because he was afraid to show her off to the townsfolk. He was sure that she’d strike a positive chord with them as she did with him, and he was proud to be walking next to a curvy beauty like Keesha Bailey.
His
curvy beauty.
At the back of his mind, he had a guess as to what made his mood droop. He’d been loose and cheerful when it was just him and Keesha, tucked away in the woods, fucking and talking. But as soon as she’d offered a trip to Shifter Grove, he’d grown worried. He could see the first buildings start to crop up behind the trees and it made a muscle twitch in his neck.
“Everything okay?” Keesha asked, quirking a brow at him.
He nodded mutely, gripping the wheel harder. Battle hadn’t liked being around people much for years now. Ever since… well, ever since he’d stopped liking being around others. He kept waiting for his past to catch up with him, and that had always kept him moving, always running. Now, in Shifter Grove, he had thought that maybe it could end. Maybe he could settle down and build a life again that didn’t include fleeing a new place every few days, always sleeping in his truck and being wary of strangers and acquaintances alike.
But now with Keesha by his side, it wasn’t just his own safety he had to worry about, it was hers as well. So all the old worries came back. What if someone recognized him? What if someone knew what he’d done? What if someone wanted vengeance? What if they were better than he was and he couldn’t protect Keesha? His stomach tied into knots and he thought they would soon twist around his lungs and cut off his breath completely. Battle exhaled sharply.
Shifter Grove was a place for new beginnings. As much as this meant that people could hide from their pasts, it also meant that others with the same goal could find them there. And Battle had plenty of people he didn’t want to find him.
They rolled into town and Battle parked his truck in front of Pearl’s General Goods. He hopped out and, this time, he made it over to Keesha’s door before she could scramble out on her own. Like it was the most natural thing in the world, he took her hand in his and led her into the store, making a beeline for the door and not taking any time to stop or look around.
“Are we in a hurry?” Keesha asked, a smirk on her lips.
“Always. I just want to keep you for myself, so the sooner we get out of here, the better,” Battle said jokingly, but he didn’t feel any of the humor.
He waved to Dalton, the gangly looking teenager that helped Pearl out at the store, and picked up a basket.
“Grab whatever you need,” Battle said, making his way to the meat section.
It took up about a third of the store. Most of the shifters in Shifter Grove were carnivores and Pearl, the storeowner, had spared no expense in stocking for even the most demanding of tastes. It was wise, too – Shifter Grove wasn’t ready for a famished lion to go take down a deer, after all.
Battle piled various cuts of meat into the basket while keeping one eye on Keesha. She was wandering around in the store, picking up a can of something here and there. When she came to the small selection of clothes and found a pair of sweatpants, holding them up for Battle to see, he couldn’t help but chuckle – dammit.
It’s not proper to fuck her in the middle of the store, right?
He shook his head, smirking. Somehow, he’d managed to keep his hands mostly off of her on the drive over. Each night, the conversations would drag him in and keep him there until it was so early in the morning that she could barely keep her eyes open. He’d carry her to the bed when she’d drift off. Every time he’d try to sneak under the covers without disturbing her, she’d wake up and make
everything
worth his while. He couldn’t get enough of her and, fortunately, she couldn’t keep her hands off of him either.
His bear had been right, she was his mate. There was no doubt about it in his mind.
Now he’d just have to keep her safe until he figured out what to do about it.
The basket was already groaning under the weight of the food Battle had picked up, but he didn’t stop there. He peeled himself away from the meat freezers, losing sight of Keesha for a moment as she was tossing through the bins of clothes, looking for her size. When he saw her again, Battle’s heart stopped for a moment.
A tall man, far slimmer than Battle but still obviously a shifter, was standing ten feet from Keesha, staring at her. He was in the same aisle as she was and, after a second that felt like an eternity, the man looked up and rested his cold gaze on Battle. There was something familiar about him, like a face you kept seeing around, but never really noticing. He grinned, showing his sharp teeth, and Battle dropped the basket, rushing over the Keesha.
He put his hand around her as soon as he got to her and almost yanked her off her feet, tugging her back towards where he left the basket.
“Hey! I was looking at those,” Keesha protested, a frown marring her pretty features.
He’d apologize later. Looking over his shoulder, the thinner, pale-eyed and blond-haired man was still standing there, his hands shoved into the pockets of his worn jeans. Yeah, Battle had definitely seen him before. Something about him struck Battle hard. The man had given Battle no reason to think he was a danger, but the way he looked at Keesha and then at him had the hairs on the back of Battle’s neck standing up.
Battle memorized the way he looked, his narrow frame, sunken eyes and high cheekbones. Battle whiffed at the air, his lungs filling with the plethora of smells in the store, but one note stuck over all of them – malice. The man had to be a wolf. Battle gritted his teeth, grabbing the basket on his way out and ushering Keesha to the checkout without a word.
“Hey, Battle,” Dalton greeted him cheerfully, accepting his basket and the pile of goods in Keesha’s arms. “Who’s your pretty friend?” he asked with a wink, drawing a smile out of Keesha.
“I’m Keesha. You must be Dalton. Pleased to meet you.”
“Likewise, miss,” Dalton said, putting on his smoothest voice and failing just a little as it cracked in the end.
When Battle gave him a look, Dalton shut up and just moved his hands quicker, depositing the groceries and other things in bags. Battle paid and took both bags, his other hand clasping around Keesha’s palm. He didn’t need to check again to know that the wolf was watching him. They walked out and Battle threw the bags in the bed of the truck and quickly opened the door for Keesha.
“I thought we were going to see the town,” Keesha protested, putting her hands on her hips.
“Another time,” Battle said shortly, his eyes searching around for any other signs of trouble.
He knew there had to be more of them. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the wolf paying for something at the checkout, exchanging a few words with Dalton. Fuck – Dalton knew Battle was living around Shifter Grove, but thankfully not where. He’d made a deal with Warren to keep that between the two of them for the time being, but Battle didn’t need to sit around and think to realize that if someone was looking for him, just obscuring his address wasn’t going to get him very far.
“Hey, Battle. We’ve been getting along great but I won’t take none of this macho shit. We agreed to see the town. So let’s do it.”
He could feel the irritation flowing off of her and dammit if it didn’t just make him like her more. A woman who said what she wanted and how she wanted it – perfect. But now was not the time nor the place. The wolf didn’t seem to be in any hurry to follow them and for a second Battle wondered if he was overreacting. Then, the wolf looked up through the wide window and winked at Battle and he knew, he just
knew
he had to get Keesha out of there.
“Keesh, get in or I will put you in there myself,” he growled, his eyes flashing the deep brown of the bear hidden deep within him.